1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording apparatus such as a hard disk drive unit (HDD), and more particularly, to a cover seal covering over a seam provided between an edge around an opening of a housing and a cover for closing the opening.
The term xe2x80x9cseamxe2x80x9d is referred to in this specification as a portion between the edge and the cover, with or without a gap therebetween.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that an HDD employs a cover of a vibration suppression metallic plate so as to reduce noise during reading/writing operation for data. The cover is coupled to a housing body of a box-shape in the HDD for providing a housing. The housing of this type may contribute to reduction in noise by the effect of the vibration suppression metallic plate.
A housing of an HDD should air-tightly enclose a magnetic disk and a magnetic head. For example, in case where a housing is comprised of a pair of members such as a box-shaped housing body and a cover of a vibration suppression metallic plate, a cover seal is adhered to air-tightly close the opening of the housing body. The housing body and cover seal serve to enclose the cover, so that a seam between the housing body and cover is sealed. Since the cover seal can contribute to cost reduction as compared with a packing, the cover seal comes to take the place of the packing as a seal member.
The present inventors have discovered that air flows in the seam between the housing body and cover so that the air causes the cover seal to vibrate during reading/writing operation for data. The present inventors have confirmed that the vibration of the cover seal takes part in noise of the HDD.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a cover seal for an information recording apparatus capable of reducing noise of the apparatus.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cover seal comprising: a metallic sheet; and an adhesive layer formed on a side face of the sheet for adhering the sheet on a housing for an information recording apparatus.
The rigidity of the cover seal may be reinforced by the metallic sheet, so that the cover seal can be prevented from vibrating. Accordingly, noise caused by vibration of the cover seal can be reduced. The metallic sheet of the cover seal may be covered with a protection layer of a synthetic resin.
The cover seal is employed in an information recording apparatus. The information recording apparatus may comprise a housing body accommodating at least a recording disk and a head, and a cover plate closing an opening of the housing. The metallic sheet of the cover seal preferably covers over at least a seam between an edge around the opening and the cover. The adhesive layer of the cover seal serves to adhere the metallic sheet on the edge and a surface of the cover. Accordingly, even if air stream in the seam acts on the cover seal from the back, the cover seal can be prevented from vibrating, so that the generation of noise can be suppressed. The cover seal may cover all over the cover so as to enclose the cover in the housing body and the cover seal itself.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cover seal comprising: a multilayer synthetic resin sheet having an interposed adhesive layer; and an adhesive layer formed on a side face of the sheet for adhering the sheet on a housing for an information recording apparatus. The multilayer structure may reinforce the rigidity of the cover seal, so that the same effect as the first aspect can also be achieved.
It should be noted that an information recording apparatus employing the cover seal according to the first or/and second aspect may be installed in a computer apparatus, or, may be constructed as a stand-alone exterior recording apparatus.